- From: Manu Sporny <msporny@digitalbazaar.com>
- Date: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:58:03 -0400
- To: Web Payments CG <public-webpayments@w3.org>
The Tradehill Bitcoin exchange has just been shut down for 2nd time in 2 years. This after just recently partnering with the Internet Archive Federal Credit Union to store customer funds in FDIC insured accounts. It seems as if there is no way regulators are going to allow them to operate without Money Transmitter Licenses. Getting money transmitter licenses in all 50 states requires a company to go through an entirely different process in each state. It requires that company to be surety bonded for around $25M dollars, which results in close to $140K/year in fees to operate. The regulatory environment in the US is forcing many Bitcoin exchanges out of business: http://bitcoinsinsider.com/regulation-forces-tradehill-bitcoin-exchange-to-suspend-all-trading_b249 This has deep repercussions for the work that we're doing here. It doesn't matter if we create a great open payment technology if no one will be allowed to use it due to the current regulatory environment. -- manu -- Manu Sporny (skype: msporny, twitter: manusporny, G+: +Manu Sporny) Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc. blog: Meritora - Web payments commercial launch http://blog.meritora.com/launch/
Received on Tuesday, 3 September 2013 16:58:25 UTC